Flat Land Big Sky

I love flat land. When I lived in Vancouver in the early 1980's I was surrounded by mountains, I felt like I was in a box. A box with very, high sides. A box where you couldn't see possibilities, the future, the way, or the horizon. 

In 1988 I moved for a short time to the prairies of Canada. I loved the flat, expansive terrain. As they say in Saskatchewan, "You can stand on a chair and watch your dog leave home for 3 days." I want this painting to have the feeling of the big sky of the prairies. I wonder if I can make that happen? 

Tonight I worked on the foreground, creating layers of glazes with a matt gel and a beautiful mustard paint. Also I did some more colour testing in my sketch book. When I pencil Margaret onto the canvas I will need to gesso her face in white over top of the blue sky. This will allow a neutral colour base for me to paint her features and skin tones. The white gesso test covered nicely in my sketch book.

With all of these books laying about, you might think I keep a messy studio. In actuality the studio is pretty neat and organized. The books are stacked as weights, pressing flat Margaret's clothing which I cut out earlier this evening. But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see her pretty dress.

Thanks for stopping by the studio for a visit.

Blank Canvas No More

Look very closely... you can see a horizon line I've drawn with pencil on the canvas.

My first layers of paint. YAY! The Big Ass Blank Canvas is no more!

Time for a celebratory dram of the good stuff, don't ya think?

Margaret Gets Her Chicken... errr Rooster

The last 4 days have been great. I've explored colour palettes, texture-techniques like layering and glazing. I've experimented with various paints, gels and other mediums too. I've enjoyed having the time to play, but it's back to the full time gig tomorrow. So today I had a few things I wanted to accomplish. The FIRST THING I needed to do -- was to put Margaret together. 

In my original 11'' x 17'' drawing, Margaret was only drawn to the armpits... sans torso. For Margaret to work in the square composition I needed to add to her body and draw her down to her hips. So I went about scanning, enlarging and then printing her out using a large format printer. This way I could see how she would fit on the 40'' x 40'' Big Ass Blank Canvas.  

Utilizing tracing paper, I traced the large print of Margaret. I added sheets of tracing paper, as I added to her body. Tracing paper is translucent allowing you to see through to what's underneath. It also allows you to draw various renditions of components before committing to a final drawing. For instance, if I wanted to try two different body styles on Margaret, I could draw them on two separate pieces of tracing paper. Then easily I could try each one to see which one worked best.

The SECOND THING I wanted to accomplish was to draw a chicken. What can I say, Margaret wants to have a chicken. On a separate piece of tracing paper I began to draw the chicken, until unceremoniously it turned into a rooster. So a rooster it will be.

There still a few more tweaks that I need to do. Once I am completely satisfied with the drawing, I'll use the graphite method to transfer Margaret to the canvas. 

Margaret in her original proportions... drawn to the armpits.

I have added sheets of tracing paper as I begin to draw more of her.

The chicken who unceremoniously turned into a rooster.

I have since shortened his beak.

Margaret holding her rooster... finally.

Margaret's head is on a separate piece 

of tracing paper.

Her upper torso, the rooster, her skirts, as well 

as the right horizon line and the left horizon 

line with trees (horizon lines not shown in this photo) 

are all on separate pieces of tracing paper.

Here is how Margaret fits onto the canvas. 

Now for the paint!

Building Margaret a Home

Building Margaret a new home, here on the flat lands.

These are some of the sample colours and the composition I will be using in the painting.

Textures... Meet Colours

Having fun introducing my colour palette to some of the texture techniques.

I have recorded the process underneath each swatch and all info about this painting will be kept in this sketch pad.

Face to Face

Had fun doing this quick little face. Not finished it yet (obviously she's bald and has one eye bigger than the other), but you get the idea. Some of these techniques I may apply to Margaret's face on the Big Ass Blank Canvas. 

I enjoyed watching Tam Laport's Willowing video on how she paints faces. I even ordered her Fabulous Faces Art Workshop on video. I really enjoy many of the things she has to say... AND WOW can she sing.

Colour Palette

Have the colour pallet nailed down. Core colours on the left from top to bottom are: Cadmium Red Light, Raw Umber, Mustard, Turquoise now changed to Teal Cobalt, Light Green Permanent, and Green Oxide. On the right are those colours mixed with Titanium White. 

Off to do some colour mockups...